Luca stared at the three girls while he cleaned the burn wound on his arm. The Karainas had hurled fireballs at them from behind the flaming gates, and one dashed right past his elbow. The wound wasn't deep, but he wouldn't stop fussing about it.  Scarlett couldn’t tell what he thought of their escape.  A tense argument seemed to be going on in his head as he daubed the wound with a yellowish ointment, looked at the girls, shook his head, then sighed, and stared at the girls again. “Are you going to speak? I need to relieve myself,” Pakuri said all of a sudden.  Luca had summoned them and asked to talk to them, but then had them standing there seemingly for no reason.  “I’m trying to understand the logic behind your actions," he said. "I understand you three are all barely of age, but you are supposed to be Karainas. I get that you wanted to avoid fighting the other Karainas, but you could've come to me first."  “I tri

 Scarlett ran after the prince as fast as her itching body could carry her. It was one thing to run in an open field, on solid ground and a smooth path. In the forest, one wrong turn could send her crashing into a tree or a hole in the ground, especially when her skin was on fire. After several minutes, Scarlett was forced to admit to herself that even she could not outrun a Hova. She stopped and fell on her knees, panting as if her lungs were trying to leave her chest just to get a bit of air.The itch seemed to have gotten worse. Now she really felt like ripping the skin off her body. No matter how she scratched, she got no relief. It was like the poison in the plant had been waiting for her to stop, so she could concentrate only on the pain.Laying on the ground, she looked like a fish out of the water, thrashing and gulping for air as she tried to scratch her body with the overgrown roots of a tree.Her two hands were simply not eno

Marcellus really didn't want to have to do this, but he had no choice. If he wanted to save this stupid girl's life, he had to get the poison out of the wound. And it happened that he had a pair of fangs that could perfectly tear into flesh. The problem was that he'd have to bring himself to stop. He'd spent so long without drinking human blood that he wasn't sure he'd be able to resist it. If he couldn't, he'd be betraying all the ideals he'd worked so hard to uphold. Humans weren't meant to be food. They were as smart as Hova, and if he was honest, much better than the people of his race. Humans worked together to make their lives better; the Hova lived their lives scared of one another, constantly vying for a way to get ahead at the cost of other people. Marcellus couldn't really blame them, though. It had been his father who made the Hova that way. His reign of terror was almost one hundred years old, and a century of living in fear could do things to you

  They got their first glimpse of civilization after walking for more than six hours. The main road diverged into narrower roads, and inns, small houses and villages came into view. It had begun to rain almost as soon as they had reached the road, and everyone in the mismatched group was drenched. Their spirits were just as damp as their clothes. When her fever died down, Scarlett had ridden up to Luca, trying to explain why she had sided with Prince Marcellus in the woods. But he only grunted and made his horse go faster, leaving her behind. A wagon carried the bodies of two soldiers who had died during the skirmish back in the forest. One had received an arrow in the neck, and the other one got hit by an axe in the head. They were covered by the tents they had managed to get out of Karai, but they were already stained copper by the blood. So, Scarlett understood Luca’s sour humor. After all, they had left their homes to reach Tupa. And

Scarlett was having a hard time understanding the concept of maids.Several women showed up in her room, carrying buckets of warm water meant to fill the tub in the washroom. She thanked them and waited for them to leave. But the women just stood by the door, waiting for something to happen.“I will bathe now,” said Scarlett tentatively, hoping that would make them go away. But instead, the maids went to the washroom.Were they supposed to watch her bathe?She walked in cautiously, not knowing what to say. She didn’t want to offend them, but there was something in this ritual she was obviously not understanding.After a few minutes of silence, one of the maids diverted her eyes from the ground.“Miss, we are here to assist you. You don’t have to be shy,” she said, blushing.“Oh, no! Thank you, but I don’t need any help to bathe. I’m fine. Did they tell you I was sick?”